Remote monitoring diagnostic system and method thereof

ABSTRACT

The remote monitoring diagnostic system and method includes a data storage file used to collect the plant data representing the operation status of a plant and to store the plant data, a monitoring system to monitor the field plant according to the collected plant data, a database storing the past plant data associated with errors having occurred to the plant and actions taken to cope with the errors, a diagnostic system to analyze the plant data sent according to the database, and a reporting system to send a report to the user of the plant regarding the causes for the error and/or actions taken to cope with the error based on the result of the analysis. An error is judged in a combustor, when a difference in temperature of two exhaust gas temperature datum detected from adjacent combustors is larger than a predetermined value.

This is a continuation application of U.S. Ser. No. 09/791,692, filedFeb. 26, 2001 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,853,959).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the remote monitoring diagnostic systemand remote monitoring diagnostic method for providing centralized remotemonitoring of multiple plants including thermal and hydraulic powerplants and for diagnosing errors.

In the event of a trouble having occurred to the power plant,manufacturers have dispatched engineers to the field to provide a directinstruction, supervision, inspection and evaluation and to take actionsto solve the problem. When multiple facilities are located in one andthe same field, supervisors have been sent according to the number ofthe facilities. If there is a sign of causing an error in the normaloperation mode (not an actual error) and the judgment on the phenomenoncannot be passed, the manufacturer's supervisor have sent the data onthe phenomenon, past records and inspection results by fax or mail tothe head office of the manufacturer, and have got the result ofevaluation by telephone, fax or mail to purchase the repair andreplacement components, thereby solving the problem in the event of atrouble so far.

As described above, earlier solution of the problem by monitoring offacility errors and symptom diagnosis by the user and manufacturer hasdepended on oral replies or fax replies of the user operator andmaintenance personnel. So much time has been required to pick up theresults of detailed analysis. Much time has also been used to prepare(list up) the component and tools required for problem solution. Thishas made it necessary to improve the availability factor of thefacilities by reduction of problem solution time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a remote monitoringdiagnostic system and remote monitoring diagnostic method capable ofimproving the availability factor of a plant.

To achieve the above object, the remote monitoring diagnostic systemaccording to the present invention includes a data storage file used tocollect the plant data representing the operation status of a plant andto store the plant data, a monitoring system to monitor the field plantaccording to the collected plant data, a database storing the past plantdata associated with errors having occurred to the plant and actionstaken to cope with the errors, a diagnostic system to analyze the plantdata sent according to the database, and a reporting system to send areport to the user of the plant regarding the causes for the errorand/or actions taken to cope with the error based on the result of theanalysis.

Furthermore, a remote monitoring diagnostic method according to thepresent invention includes the steps wherein the plant is monitored bythe plant monitoring system installed in the plant, the plant datarepresenting the operation status of the plant is collected, informationon the occurrence of an error given from the plant monitoring system andthe collected plant data associated with the error are sent to theremote monitoring diagnostic center located away from the plant when anerror has occurred to the plant, the sent plant data is analyzed at themonitoring and diagnostic center according to the database storing thepast plant data associated with errors having occurred and actions takento cope with the errors, and the causes for the error and/or actionstaken to cope with the error are reported to the user of the plant basedon the result of the analysis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system configuration representing a remote monitoringdiagnostic system as one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a system configuration representing a remote monitoringdiagnostic system as another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a system configuration representing a remote monitoringdiagnostic system as still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a system configuration representing a remote monitoringdiagnostic system as a further embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5(A) is a flowchart representing a remote monitoring diagnosticsystem of the present embodiment in intermittent connection;

FIG. 5(B) is another flowchart representing a remote monitoringdiagnostic system of the present embodiment in intermittent connection;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart representing a remote monitoring diagnostic systemof the present embodiment in continuous monitor mode; and

FIGS. 7–1 and 7–2 are drawings outlining the work performed by thepersonnel in the remote monitoring diagnostic center and the productdepartment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following describes the embodiments according to the presentinvention with reference to drawings. The following embodiments use apower plant as an example of applying the remote monitoring diagnosticsystem according to the present invention:

FIGS. 1 to 4 show the schematic configuration of a remote monitoringdiagnostic system as one embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 1and 2 show installation of a remote monitoring diagnostic center usingthe general public telephone line or Internet as a communications linemeans connecting between the user and manufacturer. FIGS. 3 and 4 showan example where the remote monitoring diagnostic center is installed.

The following describes the configuration given in FIG. 1 as arepresentative system configuration:

A personal computer 3 is installed as an terminal to permit connectionwith the Internet in the maintenance/management office 2 where the plantoperator and maintenance personnel on the user 1 are stationed. A fieldmonitoring system 6 to collect the plant data from the controller 5 ofthe power plant and to monitor the power plant is installed in the powerplant 4 of the field facilities to be monitored.

This field monitoring system 6 comprises a converter 7 to convert theplant data from the power plant controller electronic data, a monitoringsystem 8 to collect the electronic data passing through the converter 7and to monitor the plant status, data storage files 9 and 10 to storethe collected plant data, a personal computer 11 to send the plant datacollected into the data storage file 10 to the remote monitoringdiagnostic center to be discussed later, and a router 12. The monitoringsystem 8 collects the plant data all the time, and stores the plant dataon a periodic basis, for example, on the daily basis. Furthermore, whenthe monitoring system 8 has detected an error having occurred in theplant, it allows the plant data corresponding to the position of theerror to be stored into the data storage files 9 and 10 for a specifiedtime before and after the occurrence of an error, for example, for tenminutes. Furthermore, the data on the required plant constitutingequipment is stored in the data storage files 9 and 10 when there is arequest for collection of the plant data from the remote monitoringdiagnostic center to be described later, independently of whether anerror has occurred or not. The data stored in the data storage file 9 issent the general public telephone line 13 through the personal computer11 connected to permit communications with the outside of the powerplant and router 12. The plant data sent from the field monitoringsystem 6 is sent to the remote monitoring diagnostic center 14 throughthe general public telephone line 13.

In the present embodiment given in FIG. 1, two data storage files areprovided as the field monitoring system 6. The data storage file 9 isstored in such a way that it cannot be accessed from the outside. Thisis intended to ensure safety so that the plant data will not be lost.Data storage file 10 is provided to send the plant data from thepersonal computer 11 to the outside. Furthermore, in the presentembodiment, general public telephone line 13 is used as a means ofcommunications to the outside. The field monitoring system 6 and remotemonitoring diagnostic center can be connected using the leased line.

The major constituents of the remote monitoring diagnostic center 14 are(1) a monitoring center 15 to receive the plant data sent from the powerplant 4 to monitor the power plant 4, and (2) a technical center 16 tocope with the technical problem according to the plant data receivedfrom the monitoring center 15.

First, the monitoring center 15 will be described. The monitoring center15 consists of a personal computer 17 connected with the general publictelephone line 13 to permit communications through the router 18, and amonitoring system 19 on the center side to process the received theplant data. The monitoring system 19 on the center side is provided with(1) the processing program 20 to process the received plant data, (2)error report program 21 to notify the maintenance engineer of thereceived information on the error having occurred to the power plant 4,(3) the data storage file 22 to store the received plant data, and (4)the database 23 storing the history of diagnosis of errors havingoccurred to the power plant. The monitoring center is staffed by pilotmembers.

The error report program 21 has a function of notifying the maintenanceengineer in charge of power plant maintenance regarding the followingfirst information when it has received information on the error havingoccurred to the power plant; the time when the error occurred, the nameof the power plant where it has occurred, and the contents of the error.In this case, if the maintenance engineer has a portable terminal 24such as mobile equipment to receive report of the error having occurred,information can be transmitted earlier and more securely.

A data storage file 22 has a function to store the plant data sent fromthe field monitoring system 6. The plant data stored in the data storagefile 22 is the same as the data stored in the data storage files 9 and10 of the field monitoring system 6. As described above, the plant datacorresponding to the position of an error for a specified time beforeand after the occurrence of the error is stored when an error hasoccurred to the plant. Furthermore, when there is a request to send theplant data from the remote monitoring diagnostic center to the fieldmonitoring system 6, the requested data to be sent is stored.

When the plant data are sent from the field monitoring system 6 at alltimes, the data accumulated and stored is updated at every specifiedinterval.

With the process of time, the database 23 stores the followinginformation; (1) predictive diagnosis made according to the plant datain the normal operation mode, (2) error diagnosis to show the nature ofthe error according to the plant data on the occurrence of an error, (3)trouble analysis to show the reason for the error having occurred, (4)instruction to show the operation to be performed to the power plant,and other related information. As described above, when the database 19stores the result of diagnosis made so far, a more effective diagnosisof the errors of the power plant composed of multiple pieces ofequipment can be provided by accessing the database 19 wheneverrequired.

Upon receipt of a signal for the occurrence of an error from the powerplant 4, the monitoring center 15 configured in this way transmits theerror event having occurred and plant data related to the error event tothe technical center 16 through Firewall. Said transmission to thetechnical center 16 is based on the processing program loaded inmonitoring system 19 on the center side. Further, pilot staff (monitorstaff) are assigned to the monitoring center 15 can notify theoccurrence of the error and transmits plant data to the relevantdepartment of the technical center 16 according to the contents of theerror event.

The following describes the technical center 16: The technical center 16is provided with personal computers 26 and 27 laid out for eachdepartments classified according to the type of the error event or thefield of the product, data storage files 28 and 29 to store the plantdata sent to these personal computers 26 and 27, and a large-sizedscreen 30 which displays that an error has occurred, indicating thedetails thereof. As described above, this technical center 16 consistsof multiple departments, and technical staff (engineers) are assigned toeach department. Only two personal computers 28 and 29 are shown in theFigure. More than two can be installed if required.

The error event and plant data are sent in the status assigned to thedepartment in charge corresponding to the error event by pilot staff atthe technical center 16 of the above-mentioned configuration. Thedepartment in charge uses the database 23, as required, to search theerrors having occurred so far and diagnostic contents and diagnoses thereceived error event.

The result of diagnosis and information on the causes for the error andactions to be taken are sent as a reply to the personal computer 3 ofthe Maintenance/management office on user side 2 by electronic mailthrough engineer support mail server 31. This allows the actions to betaken against the error having occurred to a power plant. The personalcomputer 3 installed on the Maintenance/management office on user side 2and the engineer support mail server 31 are connected to permitcommunications by Internet 33. The engineer support mail server 31 isconnected thereto through the Firewall 32.

The technical center 16 is connected with the product design department35 to allow communications with each other through the Intranet 34. Asone example, said product design department 35 consists of machinedesigning department 36, auxiliary equipment designing department 37,electric designing department 38, control designing department 39 andother related departments in charge 40. Whenever required, technicalstaff assigned to said technical center 16 uses the personal computers26 and 27 to contact the designing department in charge of the errorwhich has occurred.

The technical center diagnoses the result of the plant data collectedindependently of the error which has occurred. Based on the result ofthis diagnosis, it can send information on the current wear of the powerplant components and power plant maintenance scheduling to the user 1.Further, it can also send the result of diagnosis on the error andmaintenance scheduling to the portable terminal 24 (not illustrated) forthe maintenance engineer.

Reply to the user can be given by mail from the monitoring center 15through the engineer support mail server 31 if the monitoring center 15is enabled to meet the requirements.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the remote monitoring diagnosticsystem. According to this embodiment, field power plant 4 and remotemonitoring diagnostic center 14 are connected with each other by theInternet 41 instead of the general public telephone line. The personalcomputer 11 of the field monitoring system 6 connected with the Internet41 is connected through Firewall 42 to prevent a third party fromgetting the plant data by accessing the personal computer 11. Similarly,the personal computer 17 installed at the monitoring center 15 is alsoconnected through Firewall 43 and Firewall.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the system configuration where the remote monitoringdiagnostic center 14 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is not installed. Since thepower plant and others have complicated product configuration, thedesigning departments in charge are located at multiple sites in somecases. In FIGS. 1 and 2, information on the occurrence of an error andplant data are send to the designing departments in charge aftercollection of the plant monitor and plant data at the remote monitoringdiagnostic center 14. If the designing departments in charge arecentralized at one particular position, the remote monitoring diagnosticcenter need not be provided at a place different from the designingdepartment in charge. Thus, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 3,designing department 35 in charge and remote monitoring diagnosticcenter are located at one position.

In the system configuration shown in FIG. 3, the field monitoring system6 and personal computer 17 as a user contact are connected with eachother by the general public telephone line 13, similarly to the oneshown in FIG. 1. In the system configuration shown in FIG. 4, the fieldmonitoring system 6 and personal computer 17 as a user contact areconnected with each other by the general public telephone line 13,similarly to the one shown in FIG. 2. In FIGS. 3 and 4, communicationwit the user is provided from the mail server 31 of the user contactthrough the Firewall 32 and Internet 32.

FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B) are flowcharts representing the remote monitoringdiagnostic system according to this embodiment given in FIGS. 1 and 2.The present embodiments will be described below with reference to thesystem using the general public telephone line 13 as a means ofcommunication, as shown in FIG. 1.

In the remote monitoring diagnostic system according to the presentembodiment, connection between the user 1 and remote monitoringdiagnostic center 14 (monitoring center) is provided by the generalpublic telephone line 13, as shown in FIG. 5 (A). The communicationsterminal is connected between the user and remote monitoring diagnosticcenter to allow communications between them (S1). The field monitoringsystem 6 (monitoring system on the user side) installed in the powerplant 4 on the user side is started (S2), and the remote monitoringdiagnostic system (monitoring system on the center side) on the side ofthe remote monitoring diagnostic center 14 is started (S3). Collectionof the power plant data starts from this status (S4). Plant data iscollected and the plant is monitored on a continuous basis by themonitoring system 8.

On field facility side where monitoring is started and the remotemonitoring diagnostic center side, the sound information showing thestart of plant monitoring is issued or is displayed on the display unit.The plant data collected by continuous monitoring is stored in themonitoring system 8 as discussed above.

If an error has occurred to the plant during continuous monitoring ofthe power plant by the field monitoring system 6 (S5), collection of theplant error data for a specified period before and after detection of anerror, for example, for five minutes before and after occurrence of anerror starts from the plant data stored in the monitoring system 8 (S6).Collected plant data is stored in the data storage file 10. Further, thesame data as the plant data stored in the data storage file 10 is storedin the data storage file (S7).

Then the field monitoring system 6 and remote monitoring diagnosticcenter 14 are connected by the transmission line (S8), and the event ofthe error having occurred and the plant data related to the error eventare transmitted to the remote monitoring diagnostic center 14 (S9). Thetransmitted error event and the data related to the event are receivedby the personal computer 17 of the monitoring center 15 (S10). Iftransmission of the related data from the field monitor system 6 is notcompleted in this case, data are again sent to the remote monitoringdiagnostic center 14. If data transmission has terminated, thetransmission line is disconnected (S12), and the system assumes astandby status.

Upon reception of a signal to announce the occurrence of an error to thepower plant, the remote monitoring diagnostic center 14 causes theoccurrence of an error to be notified to the portable terminal 24 of themaintenance engineer and personal computer 26 of the technical center 16(S13). Further, when the monitoring center 15 has received a signal toannounce the occurrence of of an error in the plant, the monitoringsystem 19 on the center side operates automatically, the causes forplant error are checked and emergency support is provided (S14). Themonitoring system 19 on the center side searches the database 23 to findout past error diagnosis and trouble analysis (S15). The databaseconsists of similar error database 70, component history database 71,operation history database 72, component structure data base 73,document database 74, operation knowledge database 75 and other relateddata base 76.

Upon receipt of a signal to announce the occurrence of a plant error,monitoring system 19 on the center side notifies the occurrence of theerror and to the technical staff of the technical center 16 and sendsthe related plant data (S16). The technical center 16 sends the receivedrelated plant data as analysis data to the designing department 35 incharge through the LAN line (Intranet 34) (S17). Based on thetransmitted analysis data, the relevant designing department in chargestudies and analyzes the occurrence of an error, and takes actions(S18). Using the above-mentioned 70 to 76 types of databases, thedesigning department in charge evaluates and studies the occurrence oferror. The result of the study is notified to the user (S19) from themail server 31 by electronic mail. Telephone and fax can also be usedfor this communication. These data and replies are registered in thedatabase as knowledge database (S20).

The following describes the plant data collection method in the normalplant operation with reference to FIG. 5(B): For example, when the plantconditions are checked and the plant data are collected for use of themaintenance schedule independently of the occurrence of the plant error,transmission line is connected (S21) first. If there is no error to theplant, request for plant data collection is issued from the remotemonitoring diagnostic center 14 (S22). In the field monitoring system 6,the plant data on the requested item is collected from the plant datastored in the monitoring system 8, and are stored in the data storagefiles 9 and 10 (S23). If there is no request for data collection,automatic collection of the plant data is performed at preset timeintervals (S24).

Upon completion of plant data collection according to the datacollection request, the field monitoring system 6 is connected to thetransmission line (S26). The collected plant data are sent to the remotemonitoring diagnostic center 14, and plant data are received by themonitoring center 15 (S27). Upon completion of data transmission fromthe field monitoring system 6 (S28), the transmission line isdisconnected (S29). In the monitoring center 15, the received analysisdata are stored in the data storage file 22 (S30). At the same time,they are transmitted to the technical center 16 and the relevantdesigning department 35 in charge through the LAN line (S31). In thesection where the analysis data are sent, study and analysis are madebased on the data, and necessary actions are taken (S32). The result ofanalysis is notified to the user (S33).

The following describes the specific example of the remote monitoringand diagnostic method of the power plant using the above-mentionedremote monitoring diagnostic system. A gas turbine combustor is taken upas an example.

A trouble may occur to a gas turbine combustor regardless of how long ithas been used. Causes for the trouble include a clogged combustionburner, spark plug operation failure, fuel feed pump failure and cloggedfuel filter. To monitor an error monitor of the current combustor,exhaust gas temperature of the gas turbine is monitored.

According this method of monitoring the exhaust gas temperature, muchtime is required to locate the apparatus of the gas turbine plant towhich an error has occurred, and to identify the causes when an alarm(error) has occurred. The combustor has multiple drums for one gasturbine. When an error has occurred to the combustor, it has beenimpossible to identify the particular one out of many combustors towhich the error has occurred. Therefore, when an error has occurred tothe combustor, the plant must be shut down to find out the causes. Ithas been required to reduce the down time due to combustor trouble.

According to the present embodiment, a thermocouple is installed foreach combustor of multiple drums laid out around the gas turbine shaft,and the combustor is monitored by monitoring combustion gas temperatureof each combustor.

The following describes the example of evaluating the occurrence of anerror to the combustor. According to the present invention, the data onthe exhaust gas temperature detected by the thermostat installed foreach of the combustors are collected by the monitoring system 8 shown inFIG. 1 as described above. At the same time, errors of each combustorare monitored. The monitoring system 8 provides trend monitoring of theexhaust gas temperature data of each thermocouple. For example, data iscollected in increments of one minute, and multiple combustors aremonitored. When temperature difference between the two adjacentthermocouple data is greater than the specified value, an error isconsidered to have occurred to the combustor. When an error is found inthe detection data of one of the adjacent thermocouples, an error isconsidered to have occurred to the thermocouple, not the combustor.

In the monitoring system 8, when the error is considered to haveoccurred to the combustor, the data covering a specified period beforeand after the occurrence of the combustor error, for example, fiveminutes before and after occurrence of an error are selected from thedata collected in the monitoring system 8, and are stored in the datastorage files 9 and 10. At the same time, a signal to announce theoccurrence of an combustor error and data on the combustor error storedin the data storage file 10 are sent to the remote monitoring diagnosticcenter 14.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart wherein a communications line is used to monitorthe power plant 4 and remote monitoring diagnostic center 14 at alltimes. The details of FIG. 6 are almost the same as those ofintermittent connection given in FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B), so only thedifferences will be described below.

When the power plant is monitored constantly, plant data collected bythe field monitoring system 6 is sent to the remote monitoringdiagnostic center 14 through the general public telephone line 13. Thereceived plant data is stored in the data storage file 22. When an errorhas been detected, a signal to announce the occurrence of an error anddata on the occurrence of an error are sent to the technical center(S54) from the monitoring system 19 on the center side. The stored plantdata are sent to the related department as analysis data (S58), if theerror has not occurred. These data are used to evaluate and study theservice life and performances (S59).

FIG. 7–1 and 7–2 outline the work performed by the center staff on theremote monitoring diagnostic center 14 and the related departments. Thestaff in the remote monitoring diagnostic center consist of engineersincluding pilot staff (monitor staff), center manager and technicalstaff 11. The product related department is staffed by productdesigners, maintenance personnel and manufacturing/production engineers.

When an error has occurred to the user facilities, electronic data aresent to the remote monitoring diagnostic center 14 through fieldmonitoring system 6 (51). Pilot staff check error items and relateddata, confirm the status of facilities with the user (52), and sendinformation to the related departments (53 and 54). For the errors whichdo not require inquiry with the related department or study (55), theremote monitoring diagnostic center creates a recipe of how to findcauses and take actions, and enters it in the specified format, andsends it to the user by electronic mail (68) after getting approval ofthe center managers 10 of previously registered related departments(58). When the mail system is faulty or the description is unclear, bytelephone or fax is also used to ensure correct communications.

Error contents are evaluated by the pilot staff, and the conditions andactions are reported to the technical center manager (52). The centermanager checks the contents and fills the specified format with itemsrequesting study by the technical staff. Then he sends it by electronicmail. If the event is such that the technical staff can find causes andtake actions, said technical staff create the instruction for actions tobe taken and send it by electronic mail or in the form of a letter (67).Having received the report, the pilot staff sends it to the user (68).If the technical staff cannot find causes and take actions for theerror, a request is sent the department in charge of the product tostudy it (54). After actions to be taken have been determined by therelevant department, they are reported to technical staff (64), and arethen reported to the pilot staff (65). The pilot staff sends the replyto the user (68).

When the pilot staff have received error data from the remote monitoringsystem and have found out that the error is wide-ranging and the studyinvolves complicated steps, related personnel will be called to discussat the electronic conference room (60). After actions have beendetermined, they are reported to the pilot staff (63 and 66).

In order to take quick actions against the error having occurred to thefacilities and equipment thereby ensuring reliability for the user, andto secure a substantial improvement in the form of report of theconventional user operation or the situation by the maintenancepersonnel through telephone, the present embodiment provides support toensure that multiple fields or multiple equipment are monitoring anddiagnosed simultaneously through the communications line (ISDN,Internet, Intranet and video communications). Information on theoperation status data of the facilities is stored in the database inelectronic forms. At the same time, monitoring and diagnosis areperformed on the real time basis. This brings about a substantialreduction in the amount of work done by the users and manufacturersinvolved in the actions and processing of the error. At the same time,the optimum error handling procedures are established for each of thefacilities so that technologies can be handed down to a successor or newuser.

Introduction of this system provides a substantial improvement inequipment availability factor. Simultaneous monitoring and diagnosis ofmultiple sites and multiple units at the Center decreases the number ofpersons in charge on the user and manufacturer sides. This system alsoallows quick actions to be taken to solve the problem.

Multiple units of composite power generating equipment consisting of alarge-sized steam turbine, gas turbine and steam turbine, the dieselpower generating equipment for emergency use and normal use and powercogeneration equipment are installed in the same field. In the remotearea (a long distance from the power generating equipment to themaintenance group) both inside and outside Japan including isolatedislands, much time is required to ensure a highly efficient operation ofthe facilities and to take actions against the trouble. (Unable tohandle the case due to absence of the personnel with sufficientknowledge or a long physical distance)

In the remote monitoring diagnostic system according to the presentembodiment, to handle the multiple pieces of power generating equipmentin the same field or power generating equipment in the multiple fields,the controller interior is modified to take out the quantity of theplant statuses and all monitor information (optically selectable) withrespect to the current facilities, or a new measuring instrument isinstalled. Information which can be monitored is converted intodigitalized signals, and is transmitted through the communications line(ISDN line, Internet, Intranet, radio) to the facilities where monitorand diagnosis are conducted on a real time basis by remote control. Thenthe following processing is performed:

When an alarm monitored by the plant controller has occurred, it can beautomatically detected simultaneously at the remote monitoringdiagnostic center through the line. Analog and digital informationcorresponding to the alarm name is collected within the time intervaloptionally set before and after occurrence of the error at a desiredsampling cycle. It is displayed in numerical and graphic data, andactions to be taken and estimated causes for the error are automaticallyindicated.

The drawings and other documents required to identify the caused for theerror are displayed on the screen as electronic data by entering searchinformation from the database stored in the host computer. Preliminaryinformation on the component required to handle the trouble is displayedon the screen as electronic data by entering the necessary searchinformation.

Communications of electronic data between the field monitoring systemand remote monitoring diagnostic center can be performed by any of thegeneral public telephone line 13 (ISDN line), Internet, Intranet andradio communication means.

To ensure quick handling of the trouble, cases of troubles havingoccurred so far are classified according to event, cause, position andplace of installation and are stored in the database. Such informationcan be used by entering the search information. Information on newtroubles can also be stored in the database for subsequent use.

To ensure that the actions to be taken in the event of a trouble andinformation on the estimated cause are reported to the facilitiesmaintenance personnel, such information is classified and stored in thedatabase. Or such information is entered into the database as knowledgedata so that information can be automatically displayed on the screen inresponse to the trouble alarm.

Numerical and graphic information collected at the monitoring center issent to the personnel in charge of equipment manufacturing via theInternet. The information can be supplied to the supervisor dispatchedto another site through the Internet and general public telephone line.Data on the error having occurred and information on the actions arestored as database, and can be used when the same error occurs infuture. Basically, these steps of processing are performed at themonitoring center.

According to the present embodiment, the user is connected to the remotemonitoring diagnostic center and monitoring facilities via thecommunications line. When an error has occurred, automatic dial-upconnection is made. During the normal operation, the normal or abnormaloperation data obtained through communications tool installed on theequipment to be monitored and diagnosed can be obtained on a real timebasis or off-time basis by line connection in response to the requestfrom the center. The obtained electronic data are automatically analyzedin the Center, and the occurrence of an error is automatically reportedto the department in charge, thereby reducing the time before taking theaction. Further, when it is necessary to get the drawing, inspectionrecord, previous record or past similar events in order to take actions,such information can be quickly obtained from the information databaseat the monitoring and diagnostic center. Information on the componentsand processes necessary to take actions can be easily provided by thedatabase, and can be sent to the relevant department of the manufactureror the user quickly by electronic mail.

Said database can also be used to check the integrity of the facilitiesduring test after periodic inspection or termination of the plan, and tomonitor errors and verify data adequacy during test operation.

To determine usability of its component and need of repair beforestarting repair or replacement of the equipment, treatment of thesimilar errors in the past and the detailed result of study by thedepartment in charge can be used as electronic data. This makes it easyto make an overall evaluation and determination at the monitoring anddiagnostic center.

The generator can be broadly classified as a prime mover, generator,auxiliary equipment and controller.

The monitoring and diagnostic center can send the obtained data andquestions of the user to each specialist department via LAN, and canprovide support for multiple studies by specialist departments.

The following describes the advantages for the users according to thepresent embodiment:

-   -   (1) Reduction of engineer dispatch costs.    -   (2) Simultaneous monitoring of multiple equipment by a smaller        number of people in remote control mode.    -   (3) Automatic transmission of data to be studied in the event of        an error.    -   (4) Electronic data on the causes for troubles can be employed        for user education.    -   (5) Conversion operation data into electronic form allows easy        management of operation history, thereby ensuring improved        office work efficiency and minimized paper space.    -   (6) When an engineer is dispatched to the user in the event of        an error, error information can be easily obtained even if the        engineer is not present. This results in minimized handling        time.    -   (7) An error predictive information function allows actions and        related information to be furnished to the personnel in charge        of the facilities before a serious error occurs. This eliminates        the need of information waiting time.    -   (8) In the event of an error, it is possible to associate the        drawing with the component to which an event has occurred. This        makes it possible to prevent a wrong component from being used        when an operator or user places an order for the component.    -   (9) The operation history of the facilities can be stored in the        form of electronic data. This makes it possible to work out an        accurate plan at the time of maintenance.

The present invention provides a remote monitoring diagnostic system andremote monitoring diagnostic method which improve a plant availabilityfactor.

1. A remote monitoring diagnostic system comprising: a monitoring meansfor collecting an exhaust gas temperature data of each of pluralcombustors installed on a gas turbine in a field power plant and formonitoring a combustion state of each of said combustors; a data storagefile for storing said exhaust gas temperature data of each of saidcombustors, said exhaust gas temperature data being collected by saidmonitoring means; a database which accumulates data relating to errorgeneration causes of past error generation of said combustor of said gasturbine and corresponding operations undertaken in response to saiderror generation causes of said past error generation; diagnostic meansfor judging an error generation in said combustor, when a difference intemperature of two exhaust gas temperature datum detected from adjacentcombustors is larger than a predetermined value, and for discriminatingthis error of a temperature detector, when an error is generated in oneof said two exhaust gas temperature datum; and a reporting means forsending an error generation cause of said combustor searched from saiddatabase and/or information regarding corresponding operationsundertaken in response to said error generation cause, in accordancewith a result of said judging by said diagnosis means, to a user of saidfield power plant.
 2. A remote monitoring diagnostic method comprisingthe steps of: collecting an exhaust gas temperature or each of pluralcombustors provided on a gas turbine by a monitoring means installed ona field power plant, and storing said exhaust gas temperature data foreach of said combustors in a data storage file; judging an errorgeneration in said combustor, when a difference in temperature of twoexhaust gas temperature datum detected from adjacent combustors islarger than a predetermined value, and judging an error of a temperaturedetector, when an error is generated in one of said two exhaust gastemperature datum, according to a diagnostic means; and sending an errorgeneration cause of said combustor and information regarding anoperation previously undertaken for said error generation cause, whichis searched from the data storage file, the data storage file storingdata of past error generation causes of said cormbustor of said gasturbine and information regarding an operation undertaken in response tosaid error generation, according to a judged result of said diagnosticmeans, to a user of said power plant by a reporting means.